


The Three Sorcerers

by ultimatefandomfangirl



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Merlin (TV)
Genre: Camelot, Crossover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-18
Updated: 2012-11-18
Packaged: 2017-11-18 23:45:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/566661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ultimatefandomfangirl/pseuds/ultimatefandomfangirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Arthur, out of anger, brings Merlin on a  hunting trip, the last thing they thought they'd find is a trio of badly injured young people, two boys and a girl, crying over the body of a dead... a dead what exactly? a house elf, that's what they said.</p><p>The crossover where Harry, Ron and Hermione are accidentally brought to Camelot by a dying Dobby, and where Merlin has to help them go back into their world so that Harry can fulfill his own destiny. But can the trio help Merlin before they go?</p><p>NOTE: This fanfiction has been edited on March 22, 2013 and is now (mostly) free of typos, grammatical and structure errors.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Three Sorcerers

**Author's Note:**

> This fanfiction has been edited after its publication by Arubi ( he has a profile on AO3). I owe him everything for helping me (more like saving me, really) edit this work.

 

"MERLIN!"

Merlin ran to the chambers as fast he could while Arthur kept shouting for him. He seemed angry, and Merlin hoped he wasn't the cause of it.

"We're going  for a hunt.” Arthur said bluntly. Clearly something was troubling him enough to want to escape his daily duties.

"Yes, My Lord."

Merlin went to prepare Arthur's hunting tools and gathered the horses in the court yard. Arthur passed through the wooden doors and came down the stairs looking more furious than ever. Merlin decided to shut his mouth (for once) and helped Arthur get on is horse.

"Hurry up you idiot!"

Merlin climbed his own horse as fast as he could, a forced smile scotched upon his lips. That was definitely going to be a very long day. As much as he enjoyed being at Arthur's side, the prince was sometimes unbearably arrogant and selfish – those were two things Merlin couldn’t stand at all. Of course, he had never told Arthur anything about him, preferring to mutter (or not) creative insults directed towards his royal master. Merlin turned around and trotted until he reached Arthur, who was already standing on his horse under the great stone arch leading to the lower town. His head stood high and proud upon his shoulders, looking straight ahead.

"C'mon, you lazy backside, I'm not going to wait till the sun comes down to hunt game."

They went into the woods as the sun glistened hot directly above them , they left their horses chained to a tree near a grass floor. The suns’ brightness allowed them to spot the animals easily as they tried to hide behind bushes or escape. It didn’t take Arthur more than half an hour to catch three rabbits and a bird. Still, he didn't seem to be satisfied with it. The angry look on his face wasn't fading away. At all. Merlin began to be annoyed by it and tried to cheer Arthur up by doing his usual comedic tactics.

"What's frustrating you so much? I hope it's not the rabbits, because I don't think they can do much for you anymore". That was complete trash talking. He had to find something better.

"Hey I think I saw a deer that way Arthur!" That was definitely better. At-least it got a reaction from the scowling prince.

" Merlin, shut up and find me that deer. I need greater stuff than these stupid rabbits!"

"Okay, then"  Merlin nodded, he was starting to feel Arthur’s mood shifting onto him..

As Merlin had, in fact, not seen a deer, they wandered through the woods for 45 minutes until Arthur got bored and declared they had lost the deer trail.

"I don't even know why I listened to you, you're such a bad hunter I bet you wouldn't even be able to hunt your own self!"

That was a little too much.

"Sorry Sire, I lost the trail. Now please will you tell me what's on your mind before I lose my own nerves? I've been trying to cheer you up since we left Camelot."

"You never remember even the simplest rules do you Merlin?  _I decide when we talk_. Your only meant to be here to serve me. Now stop wasting time and take my bow. I'm tired."

"Yes, my lord… brat” He muttered irritatingly as he tried to secure the mechanical bow Arthur had roughly handed to him.

They were preparing to go back to their horses when they heard a very loud noise accompanied by a gust of wind.

_CRACK!_

They froze. Arthur's rude facial expression dramatically changed into a worried one.

"What - what was that? Where did it come from?"

Merlin was searching between the branches. He was nearly sure he had seen someone getting down behind a dead tree in the ditch near them. He put up his most convincing look and turned to Arthur.

"We should go take a look. I'm almost sure I saw someone just there.”He said, pointing at a fallen tree fifteen feet away from them.

Arthur carefully walked towards to the tree, calculating and ready for battle expression scotched upon his face. Merlin followed him with caution. This wasn't a good day to play soldiers, and he certainly had not planned on revealing his magic today for some shabby smugglers or bandits. They heard mutterings coming from behind the trees. One girl and two boys apparently, breathing heavily enough to be heard by anyone in the vicinity. The girl seemed panicked and one of the boys was having a hard time breathing. Merlin wondered if they were injured.

"Stay still Ron, I've seen someone, I'm sure of it!" said the girl in a squeaky voice.

"I hope it's not snatchers or we're all definitely dead. Harry's the only one in shape for some fight, and getting back at that damn Malfoy Manor will surely be our last trip." retorted a struggling voice. The boy coughed in a way that made Merlin suspect he was losing a lot of blood.

_"shhhh!"_

Merlin had no idea what a snatcher was, but it seemed like they weren't nice people - or things. He searched the branches for Arthur... who had successfully sneaked around the three wanderers to be a few yards beside them.  He made some signs in Merlin's directions, but Merlin had no idea what they meant so he decided to stay still. Playing soldiers was definitely not his favourite game. He witnessed Arthur's slow progression to the trio until he shouted:

"Who are you and what are you doing in Camelot's kingdom?"

A black haired young man with round glasses got up rapidly and got in front of his two friends.

"Okay Merlin you can get out of your hiding, I've got them!" said Arthur in a confident way that told Merlin he was enjoying himself.

Merlin stood up and walked around the tree carefully. He lowered his guard at the sight of one of the weirdest scenes he had seen up to this day; tree young people, a red haired boy who seemed in very bad shape, covered in bandages, a dark haired boy with round glasses as perfect as he had ever seen before, and a messy haired girl how had a nasty cut on the neck and a panicked look who could've get any knight of Camelot worrying about the situation (well, any knight except Arthur). The strangest thing in all of this was the kids clothes. For instance, the girl was wearing a strange pair of pants and a buttoned shirt which seemed very warm for the time of the year, she had soft shoes in her feet and a bag way too small to carry anything substantial. The two boys were wearing the same type of weird pants and warm coats strangely designed with shades of blue and brown. None of them was carrying a bag, but the three of them had two to three wood sticks in their hands. A strange creature was lying a few feet away from them, a knife stuck in its chest, dead. It had a very long nose and wore some kind of blanket and way too many pairs of socks. Arthur noticed the creature by looking for the thing that was distracting Merlin.

"What the _hell_ is that?! Who are you?"

He pointed his sword to the bespectacled boy, whose body stiffened, he seemed in shock but still very alert.

"We... we're travelers coming from... from the north. We've been attacked by a group of... of... of burglars a few hours ago, and they, they took everything we had and... and my two friends have been injured. That creature saved our lives but… he lost his in the aftermath." The boy pointed at his two friends. "My name is Harry Potter. My friend over here is Ronald Weasley and she's Hermione Granger."

The girl squeaked _"Harry!"_ as the boy spoke. Something was wrong, but Arthur didn't seem to notice.

"Merlin, go fetch the horses. We're going back to Camelot. These people need rest."

"Okay."

" Er... ", began Harry. He seemed uncertain and confused.

"Do you want your friends to be okay or not?" said Arthur impatiently.

"Yes, of course!"

"Then come with us. We want you no harm I can assure you."

The boy seemed disturbed by the dead creature. Merlin helped the girl, Hermione, to get up.

"Will we be able to get back here later?" asked Harry. "I want to bury the elf".

"Then take it with you. We're nearly an hour far away from Camelot." suggested Merlin.

"...Okay."

The boy removed his jacket and rolled the creature in it, it seemed pretty light. Arthur helped Ron, the red haired boy, and ended up carrying it because he was collapsing too much due to his injuries. The girl had a nasty wound on her neck, but otherwise she didn't seem to have lost a lot of blood, even if she seemed to be the one who was in great shock. Harry walked in silence, the body of the creature in his arms.

" What is it exactly, the creature? Asked Arthur.

"It's... it's called a... an elf. It usually lives deep in the woods but that one wasn't afraid of us." Responded Harry.

"If it lives in the wood, why does it wears socks?"

"I... I don't know." Harry babbled.

"Oh, okay, you don't know if it's a creature of magic then?"

Merlin took a look over his shoulder just in time to see a surprised look on the boy's face.

"No... No I don't. Sorry."

They finally saw the horses a few yards away. Arthur commanded Merlin to help the girl get on his horse. He would mount the horse with her. Merlin attached the ginger boy on his own horse and they rosealongside Arthur’s.

It took 2 hours to get back to Camelot. Merlin immediately went to Gaius because the red haired boy was in a critical state. Hermione, the girl, insisted to stay with Harry, whom Arthur wanted to get an audience with the king to assess their situation. The two of them seemed quite stressed, and not in a normal way. Harry had shown distress signs when Arthur had told him about the audience and the girl had immediately got up from the bed she was lying on in Gaius's chambers.

That audience was definitely going to be interesting.

***

Harry tried to control himself, but he failed miserably - again. He was standing alongside a very fragile and stressed Hermione  in front of Camelot’s court entrance. How was that even possible? How could Dobby possibly mistake the Shell Cottage for a more than 2000 years old kingdom? He was sure Hermione had her own idea on that one, but they had quietly agreed not to talk in front of these muggle guards. Hermione was sure the International Statue of Secrecy had not been signed yet at this specific point in time but she wished that they keep their powers a secret to avoid any making everything worse.  Harry didn't knew much about anything involving old history because he had always made sure not to listen too much in their History of Magic class with professor Binns; he however was was aware that Hermione was presently getting every possible memory about these sessions back in her head to avoid many stupid situations.

"Harry?"

"Yep?" responded Harry in a rasping voice.

"Please... let me do the talking."  Hermione asked in a deep and serious voice.

" Audience is entirely yours Hermione. I don't want to think about what would happen if something went wrong. I don't feel good about this. At all."

The guards opened the wooden doors and escorted Harry and Hermione inside the room. More than 20 people were waiting on the sides of the room, all clothed in dresses and linen blouses that seemed disturbingly normal to them. A man with a crown was sitting on a wooden throne, a proud and a pitiless expression upon his face. He seemed dubious... about what? Probably about what his son, Arthur, had reported to him earlier.

"My son, Prince Arthur, reported that you were found in the woods about two hours far from this castle, and that you confessed being travellers from the north. Is that correct?"

Hermione stepped aside Harry.

"Yes, it is true."     

An awkward silence fell upon the room.

"He also told me that you had no belongings of all sorts. Is that also true?"

"Er... yes."

The King seemed to get offended.

"I am King Uther Pendragon of Camelot, and therefore, when you address an answer to me you must call me either Sire, your Highness or My Lord, is that clear? I won't tolerate any sort of disrespect in this room." The King’s voice was impassive, yet serious.

"Yes, Sire." Hermione corrected in a squeaky voice. She was secretly panicking, Harry knew it. The name vaguely remembered him something but he couldn't put his finger on it. Hermione looked at him with her eyes wide open which meant: Beware.

"How can you explain to me why you were found so far away from the north in the middle of nowhere without any weapons, armours, blankets or food on you?" continued the King.

"Uhm... We... we got attacked. They took everything we had."

That last sentence interested the king.

"They? Who are they?"

Hermione was a bad liar, and she knew it. As much as she tried to say something logical, it wasn’t work. They surely couldn't afford to say they had just been captured and tortured by a group of dark wizards living two thousand years in the future and then saved by a magical creature who appeared hundred years in the future from now. Harry stepped besides her.

"Sire, my friend is in shock. We've been attacked and captured by a group of people north from this land. Hermione have been tortured and my friend, who is resting, has been gravely injured by this group. Please, we just want a place to rest before getting on the road again."

He had spoken in a hurried voice. His heart was beating like hell.

"Tortured you say. What did they want from you?"

Another silence followed. Harry said the first thing that came on his mind, which was also half true.

"They wanted information about... about a sword and a cup which seemed very important to them. They think we stole it, but we didn't... we only owned a... a replica."

"And what does this sword and this cup do?"

"We, we don't know either... we found it."

Harry looked at the other people in the room and then he spotted him. The young servant, Merlin, with his neckerchief and old brown coat, the same one that had found them in the woods with the prince. And then he understood.  _What if?_ What if that servant was  _the_  Merlin and that prince was  _the_ Arthur? And if they were...

"Tell me more about these objects young man. What is their nature?"

"I don't know” Harry lied. “We didn't understand what they were saying."

“Everybody speaks the same language in the five kingdoms, how come you couldn't understand, young man?"

Harry took his most serious expression and replied:

"Ron and I were too worried they would kill Hermione judging by her screams."

People in the room gasped. Apparently torturing a woman seemed worse than killing a man over here. Harry saw the servant with the red neckerchief look back and forth to Hermione and the king. If he really was the Merlin of the legend, at least he seemed to be careful about the situation.

A lady with long black hair and bright red lips sitting next to the King stood up and spoke to Harry and Hermione.

"Can't you see the two of them are tired and injured? Look at the poor girl; she could faint at any moment! Please Sire, let me take the girl to my chamber, she will be allow to rest here, and Gwen can take care of her..."

The King didn't let the young woman the chance to finish her sentence:

"I won't let any of those three wanderers get healed and rested in my castle before I know exactly who they are and what they want exactly, am I understood Morgana?

Morgana. This name reminded something to Harry. He turned over to Hermione and he saw the distress look on her face. She was gazing at the lady intensely. Clearly she remembered something from their classes with Mr. Binns that he had forgotten.

The prince spoke.

"Father, if I may, maybe Morgana could take the girl to her chambers. I am sure the young man here is perfectly capable of answering our questions. The girl clearly needs rest. He, on the other hand seems to be in good shape. Merlin will take care of him after the audience."

The King nodded, reluctantly. The lady Morgana stepped forward and took Hermione's hand, who was shaking. She turned her head to Harry and he had the time to see all the worries of the world on her face before she disappeared behind the wooden doors, accompanied by a caring Morgana and a dark skinned serving girl who seemed quite lovely. That would be Gwen, the girl Morgana was talking about.

And then, before Harry could react, he understood everything, as if Hermione had transferred her memories to him.

_Morgana, Pendragon, Merlin, Arthur, Gwen..._

These words spinned around in his brain like a waterwheel and he remembered the story from a course he had took in elementary school:

_"Arthur Pendragon was a good and just King. He had a lovely wife, Guinevere, and the great sorcerer Merlin, as his counselor. Arthur had a great destiny, the one every king wanted: he was destined to be the ruler of the greatest kingdom the world had ever known. But Arthur had a half- sister, Morgana, who wanted the throne more than anything. Her crave for power and glory surpassed everything in her heart. In her earlier years, on a rainy day, she went to the druids and discovered she had magic. That day was the darkest day Camelot had ever known. Her guardian, Uther Pendragon, had a blind hate for magic. When he decided to burn Morgana to the stake because of her powers, Morgana fled and promised to return to Camelot to take the throne and kill the Once and Future King, Arthur. Luckily, Arthur had the power to defend himself against Morgana's hatred, because the most powerful sorcerer of all time, Merlin, was standing at his side."_

Harry couldn't remember anything else, but that was a start. Oh god, they were in trouble. if Uther was still king, and Morgana had magic, it meant that they would soon be stuck in the middle of a war that wasn't their own. Worse, he recalled that the legend wasn't exactly as they were led to believe. How come Arthur married a servant? That was impossible, as for marriage between nobles and citizens wasn't supposed to be permitted in those times, he was sure of it.

A voice made him come back to reality.

"Boy, are you alright?"

A very blond and insistent prince Arthur was standing over him, shaking him. Had Harry fainted? Probably, but that wouldn't be the first time. Harry tried to get up.

"I feel sick" He said, his hand upon his stomach, his face twisted in a panicked expression

Harry threw up on the floor and before he knew it, he was fainting in front of Camelot’s court. He stayed conscious long enough to hear buzzing in his ear and felt someone lift him. Then he saw, with his pupils half closed, a red neckerchief two inches away from his nose.

***

Dawn was rising over Camelot as Hermione was laid in a gigantic and sumptuous bed. The room she was in was next to the Lady Morgana's chambers. Guinevere had brought her a sleeping draught the physician taking care of Ron had made for her. She didn’t take it, just in case, but she had slept well thanks to a potion she had in her bag. She pulled herself out of bed and painfully walked to the window where she sat in a chair as comfortable as the one they had in the Gryffindor common room. Despite the early hour, servants and knights and citizens were already getting busy in the court. She hoped Harry would get to her room in the morning. The Lady Morgana, who was revealed to be a lovely young woman instead of a pitiless evil enchantress, had been told by the prince Arthur that Harry had fainted during the audience and had been brought into the physician chambers by his servant, Merlin. At least he was in good hands. She tried to reach for her beaded pouch to take dittany essence to cure the wound she had on the chest, but Guinevere entered the room.

"Good morning miss, you had a good night?"

"Very good, thank you very much" Hermoine responded in her loveliest voice.

"The lady Morgana thinks you must be very important to be able to talk to a king before the two boys with whom you're travelling, and she wants to make sure all is okay with you. She says Gaius - it's the physician - will be seeing you in the afternoon." Gwen smiled pleasantly.

"Thank you very much!” Answered Hermione politely. “Er... why does the Lady Morgana thinks I'm important just because I spoke to the king even if Harry was able to talk?"

Gwen seemed to find the question interesting.

"Well... generally a woman isn't allowed to talk to other men, especially a noble, if she is travelling with a man who is able to speak for himself. You see, speaking to the King first, even if you hadn't the clothes of a noble, the fact that your friend let you speak firstly kind of sold your title out."

"My title?"

"You cannot be anything else than an important person if you are considered as the chief of your group, are you?"

Hermione thought it was better not to tell Gwen that the only reason why she was the one to speak to the king before Harry was because she had more intellect and therefore was able to understand situations more quickly than the two boys.

"I guess."

"I'm going to go make you breakfast then. The Lady Morgana will be eating with king Uther but she expressed her desire to have lunch with you later in the day."

As Gwen left the room, Hermione turned her head to the window and saw what seemed to be a perfectly recovered Harry walking down the stoned court, following Merlin, who seemed very chatty and happy.

 

***

 

Now that the bespectacled boy had recover from his sickness from the previous day, Gaius had asked Merlin to bring Harry around so he can help him with some of his duties. They walked through the castle court down to the lower town to buy ingredients at the apothecary. Harry had also accepted to help him mock Arthur's stables afterwards and help him clean Arthur's boots, which were nightmares to clean. Harry had expressed that he wished to visit his friend Hermione in Morgana's chamber so Merlin had accepted to accompany him. Gaius had specifically told him not to let the boy alone. He was certain something wasn't right with them and he feared they weren't as good and innocent as they seemed.

They entered the apothecary shop.

"Hi, Gaius sent me, he said he has ordered two full bottles of  _Moripis flowers_  and one bottle of dittany's leaves." Said Merlin in his usual polite voice.

"Dittany?” Questioned Harry. _They had dittany here?_ He wondered if they also had  blue serpent skin.

"Yes, obviously"

Harry continued to observe the place in silence. There was something in his voice that Merlin couldn't quite put his finger on. Was it hope? Was it fear? He decided he would investigate that matter later.

They went to Gaius’ chambers before going back down to the stables. When they passed in the court, Harry looked up to the Lady Morgana's chamber windows.  Merlin looked up too and they saw Hermione's face smiling shyly and waving at them. They did their job in the stables in silence. Harry wasn't particularly chatty and Merlin assumed it was probably his usual character. Afterwards, Harry went up to Gaius chambers and Merlin went into Arthur's chambers.

***              

 

Harry waited patiently for Merlin in the physician's chambers, on Ron's bedside. He hoped he would be okay soon. Not only Ron had been injured while they were escaping the Malfoy Manor, but he had also came back from his lonely trip in bad shape. Ron had ran away from them at the beginning of December when they seemed to be in a dead-end in their mission. He couldn't wait to visit Hermione in the Lady Morgana's chamber: Maybe she would find a way to transform their galleons of muggle money into gold so they could buy some dittany leaves. This thing saved them in the past and they had finished the last bottle two weeks ago. He also hoped he would be able to subtly take the beaded bag and invent an excuse to take a trip in the woods to recover their belongings. They couldn't afford to get them out of the bag in the castle or they would cast doubt among people. He needed to work to recover his mission diary as well as the only book on History of Magic that Hermione had brought with her. If they wanted to get back in their time at the exact time they left, they would need to discover more about Camelot and Merlin before asking for exterior help. Harry knew they would probably need to tell Merlin about their magic and their mission, but he wanted to avoid it. The boy didn't looked like the Merlin they had studied (well, Hermione had studied) at Hogwarts. He was sure Merlin had magic, but what if he wasn't _the_ Merlin? Or what if he wasn't as powerful as they said in the history books and was still an apprentice? That would be horrible, especially if he and Hermione failed in finding a way to get back in 1997.

Merlin finally entered Gaius chambers.

"Hey Harry, I think it's a good time to go visit your friend now. I've been informed she and Morgana just finished their lunch and she seems to be recovering well."

Harry got up and they walked down the stairs to Morgana's chambers.

 

***

 

Hermione and Morgana heard a knock on the door. Hermione smiled; it was surely Harry. Gwen went to open the door, and Merlin and Harry entered. That wasn't good. How would they manage to take stuff from the bag with all these people around? Hermione knew Harry needed a potion from the bag to help Ron recover faster. She also feared Harry wanted other things from the bag that were way too deep in the bag for them not to be discovered using magic. They couldn’t really go and sear the bottom of the bag, or it would look like their arm disappeared and it would look like magic.

"Oh, you have a visitor Hermione!" said Morgana cheerfully.

"Hi Harry, why don't you sit?" She gestured at harry to sit on the nearby chair.      

He went to sit near her. They heard Morgana chat with Merlin.

"She seems to be recovering fast and she's very wise. We've been chatting all morning and she told me a lot about their trip and her life before. Her parents were killed when she was young but they were definitely nobles..."

Harry turned to Hermione, she looked at him, her eyes speaking for her. _I had to say something!_

"... anyway, Gwen and I are going to go to the lower town to buy some scarves, can you please look after them Merlin?"

"Yes, of course My Lady."

Gwen and Morgana left. Merlin stayed still, 5 feet away from them. Harry and Hermione faked a normal conversation.

"How are you?"

"I'm okay; the dreams about all this horror are gone now that the physician gave me this draught. How's Ron?"

"He should recover soon enough. I heard the Lady Morgana is treating you very well."

"Turns out she's a lovely person."

Merlin cut them off:

"I'm to go get you some water, this jar is empty."

He left the room. Harry got up to make sure he was really gone from the chamber.

"Okay, I doubt we have a lot of time, so I really need that history book and my mission diary you have in your bag." Harry said, distraught.

"Are you mad? It's a book of magic, if you’re caught with it they will execute you! And I don't even want to think about what would happen if someone read your mission diary."

"Okay then I absolutely need the bag itself. I'll go into the forest and recover our stuff. If Ron's okay, maybe we can destroy the medallion, the hocrux we failed to destroy when Ron came back. We won't go far from this place if we can't touch anything in this bag."

"Okay. The bag's on the table over there, get it and hide it.When you go into the forest, make sure nobody is following you, or we'll all get killed."

Harry stood up and went to get it,but his hands were shaking and it slipped off his hands as Merlin came back into the chamber, a metal jar and two cups in his hands.

The noise it made was so exorbitantly loud comparing to the size of the bag that it made Merlin jump.  A deep silence followed. Hermione's eyes went as round as tennis balls and her skin went as white as a sheet. In his heart, Harry knew Merlin would now suspect that something wasn't right with them.

"What was that?" Merlin asked, eyes narrowed.

"What was what?" Harry faked ignorance.

That was definitely awkward. Merlin was pretty sure the pouch was made of cloth and beads and yet it had made an immoderately loud noise, as if a shelf full of books and glass phials had collapsed.  Harry seemed in shock. They stayed there fixing each other, until Hermione broke the silence.

"Sorry, was my fault, I knocked the table. I'm afraid the Lady Morgana's books and her tea kit may have it the floor."

Merlin looked at Hermione. The table was dirty with spilled tea and three books were lying on the floor and the tea kit was broken. The books were all wet with tea. Harry didn’t know how she managed to do it, but he was glad it had worked.

"Could you please clean it up for us? I'm sorry, really."

"Of course My Lady."

"Thank you Merlin."

Merlin rushed toward the table and got busy cleaning the damage.

"I'll get a piece of cloth and a bucket."

He got up and got out of the room slowly. He did not know any spell that could help him hear their conversation from behind the door but if he was slow enough he would be able to hear it while getting the bucket and the cloth. He was certain the pouch was magical, but he hoped it wasn't something too great or too evil. The last thing he needed was some evil sorcerer like the father and daughter that had come to Camelot a few months ago. It turned out the royal and ’oh so beautiful  daughter were in fact sidhe sorcerers banished from Avalon for murdering another of their own. Merlin had to follow them to the Lake of Avalon to save Arthur from being sacrificed in payment for the crime.

He slowed down after passing the doorstep. He had to keep moving so the teenagers wouldn’t notice he was trying to listen. He barely heard the beginning of their argument:

"Thanks for the cover." Harry whispered.

"You fool! I'm sure he didn't believe it for one second! Now he's going to spy on us and you better wish he doesn't find out too much about us or we're screwed!" Hermione retorted. She was fuming.

" Why? He's not that great he's only a boy, his power can't be as developed as Binns once said. He always talked about a powerful old man and I'm pretty sure that this Merlin is young."

"Doesn't mean he isn't curious enough to spy on us! Imagine if..."

Merlin didn't hear the rest of the conversation. He bumped right into Gwen, who was coming back to the chambers.

"Hey Merlin. Morgana was cold, so I'm going to her chambers to fetch her cloak. What are you doing?"

"Hermione spilled tea on the table. I'm just getting a cloth piece and a bucket to clean it up"

"There's a bucket and a piece of cloth in the servant's room right next to Morgana's chambers. I keep it there so I don't have to get down to the kitchens to fetch one when a problem occurs. You can take it, just make sure you clean it up afterward so it doesn't smell.”

 _Idiot._ He would have been able to hear all the conversation if he had sneaked up into the servant room instead of walking down to the kitchens.

"Thank you Gwen!" He replied with a forced smile.

***

 

When Merlin woke up the next morning, he could hear voice coming from Gaius's workroom. Apparently Ron was awake, and also able to speak. He dressed up promptly and joined them.

"Hey! You two seem to be having way too much fun without me! What did I miss?" The warlock faked a smile, making sure he appears nonchalant.

Gaius seemed to be in a very good mood. Merlin saw Harry in the corner of the room, preparing breakfast for all of them apparently.

"Ron was telling me how the Lady Hermione chose them as her servants, and apparently, she has a taste for original men!"

Merlin looked towards Harry just in time to see him smile grimly.

Had Ron told Gaius a lie? Probably. And lies were generally followed by golden eyes and killing spells. Gaius proceeded in telling the tale.

”Apparently she organized a contest in which the aspiring servant had to duel and as the boys were best friend they ended up doing an impersonation duel and she liked it so much that she hired them!"

"... What?" 

"We kind of tried to convince her we were both were in love with her and we did some poem recital looking like total buffoons and she laughed a lot!"

Merlin tried to look convinced by the story. "Oh so you have a very nice mistress, I can see."

"Indeed." Harry replied from the corner of the room, laughing.

"Good. Well I should probably get going before Arthur decides I'm the target for his bow practice."

At least take the sandwich I just made will you?" Harry said, handing him a sandwich that looked a lot like the ones Gaius had made.

Merlin left the room. He wanted to tell Gaius about what he had witnessed the day before but he hadn't had any time alone with the old man. Arthur's mood got better since they had found the three young people in the woods but it his nerves came back like a boomerang yesterday evening. Merlin would have to investigate that as well as the scheming of the trio, which had already been made very hard since Hermione was under Morgana's protection. Maybe she wasn't a noble, or maybe she was. He would have to find out and provide proofs. He bumped into Arthur (again) as he was leading to the prince's chambers.

"Thank god you here at last! I should have to put you in the stocks for being late again..."

"I'm not even late,  _Arthur_."                

"Who said so? I'm the only one who can decide whether you are late or not. And this morning, you are, so please hurry up and get my bow practice kit before I decide to practice mace work on you instead."

***

The morning went badly. Merlin had to feign being the enemy for Arthur to practice his bow, sword and mace skills on him. Merlin was used to it so he just let Arthur work out his anger on him. However, near the end of the practice, Arthur wasn't paying attention to Merlin's state anymore and without thinking he hit Merlin directly in the stomach. He was trying to handle the wooden shield better at the moment and fell to the ground, completely blinded by tears of pain.

"HEY!"

Harry was walking down the path to the training grounds. Merlin winced against the blinding pain. He spoke impulsively.

"It's okay Harry, I'm used to that -"

"C'mon, he's been trying to destroy your body for more than an hour now. It's time for you to take a break."

Arthur was upset by Harry's behaviour and shouted at him:

"Excuse me, but I decide when my servant needs a break."

"Well you're not very skilled in  _deciding_  things then."

Arthur laughed with his most arrogant laugh. Merlin feared what would come next. It was either the stocks, the dungeons or...

"I see, you would like to take his place! Okay then, take a sword and a shield, boy."

Harry looked right into Arthur's eyes:

"My pleasure,  _Sire_."

 

 _Oh please Gaius doesn't need more work_. Merlin thought apprehensively.  He tried to make Arthur reason. He really didn't want to see Harry being crushed in front of the knights.

"Please Arthur, he's younger than me, he doesn't know what he's doing, let him go I'm okay."

"You seriously think I would decline such an offer?” Arthur replied, more arrogant than ever. Merlin’s temper took the better of him.

_"What's bothering you anyway! You've never been so upset since the day I met you and you weren't even THAT upset that day."_

"WHAT'S BOTHERING ME DOESN'T CONCERN YOU MERLIN AM  BEING UNDERSTOOD!?"

Arthur had shouted this time, so Merlin dropped the argument. The prince ordered Harry to take place in front of him at the center of the training ring and they began to duel. It turned out Harry wasn't particularly skilled with a sword, but at least he knew how to handle it and swing it, which wasn't Merlin's case when he arrived in Camelot. However, it turned out he was incredibly good at dodging. The few times Arthur touched him he was able to minimize the time of  contact by swinging his sword or attempting a physical combat. After 20 minutes of duel, Arthur was out of breath. He declared the duel was over and exclaimed:

"How can you possibly be so good at dodging? Even some of my knights get fooled by my faints."

Harry smiled gloomily.

"Dodging is the only way to escape when you've been living with a family who hates you all your life."

Arthur was intrigued.

"That doesn't answer the question."

"Let's just say my cousin's favourite game was the Harry Hunt and he was a coward, so he always had his five most stupid friends beside him each time he declared the game was on."

"Well... you seem as foolish as Merlin for trying to confront me but you also seem as brave as he was when I first met him. You are dismissed."

"Sorry?" Merlin noticed Harry clearly wasn't familiar with this form of demands.

"Your mistress and Morgana are over there. I must say she's very beautiful and also... very angry."

Merlin turned his head and he saw Morgana walking down the grounds with her temporary ward, Hermione. He must admit she was quite beautiful. She was wearing one of Morgana's dress and they apparently had some fun with Morgana's makeup. They were walking fast and Hermione looked upset and angry in an authoritarian way.

 _"Harry - James- Potter!"_  

 

She had detached and accented every syllable of the bespectacled boy name. "The last thing I need is to hear you've been stupidly killed playing the righter of wrongs!"

Harry smiled, looking to the ground.

"Sorry, erm,  _My Lady_." He had pronounced the two last word in a rather arrogant way, a sarcastic smile scotched upon his face.

Morgana sauntered towards Arthur. "He's rather good. We could see him dodge even your best strikes from my chamber's window." She smirked.

Hermione thanked Arthur politely and began to walk back to the castle, Harry by her side.

"Merlin! Take my armour back to my chambers and polish it will you? After you need to mock out the stables."

He took Arthur's armour and followed Lady Hermione and Harry. They were conversing in a low voice but he heard enough to be alarmed.

"...Harry, you need to recover the belongings tonight. It's only luck I know how to behave like a royal medieval woman. I don't think the cover will be safe for much longer, and we need to get working on Merlin, he'll be useful to achieve our goal. Prepare a cloak. Ron and I can't sneak out of the castle but you can. Go into the woods tonight and please come back with some stuff to work on. Working on the Horcruxes won't hurt your brain."

Seemed like Merlin would not sleep tonight after all.

***

 

Merlin was laying on his bed, all candles extinguished in his room. The moon was bright. Its silver rays made Merlin's dark brown hair shine in the night, but the boy couldn't see it. He had been listening attentively to the various sounds coming from the other room. Ron and Gaius's snoring, the cracking of the wooden walls; the wind passing through the open window. The crackling of a dying fire in the fireplace. Then, he heard it.

A very subtle sound of a foot pressing the floor.

_toc._

Then, the sound of someone walking on his tip toes.

_toc...toc.toc...toc.toc._

Merlin carefully rose up and put a foot on the floor. It made the wood crack a little. The sound of footsteps stopped. For a few second, the sounds of the chanting frogs and the wind was all what could be heard in the night.

Then he heard the footsteps again, followed by the croaking of an opening door.

It was only when the sound of the footsteps descending the stairs died that Merlin got up. He took his jacket and left Gaius chambers. He could still hear the snoring chorus when he reached the bottom of the stairs. He turned the corner to the castle court but hid himself quickly when he realised Harry was still standing beside a pillar. He was searching for something in the pouch bag, but there was something wrong with the scene.

Harry's arm was entirely inside the bag, but the pouch itself wasn't bigger than Merlin's hand.

"That's what I call light travelling." muttered Merlin to himself. The bag seemed very huge on the inside. It took two long minutes for Harry to find what he was searching. He removed a huge cloak from the bag. Merlin could see symbols weaved on the silver fabric. Harry covered himself with the cloak as a patrol passed in the court. Before Merlin had the chance to realise what had happened, Harry was gone.

 _He's turned invisible!_  Merlin exclaimed internally.

He conjured the first useful spell that came to his mind:

_"Beo pu leohte bewunden."_

For a second he believed he had failed, but then he saw what he was searching for: a golden trail making its way to the city gates. He would be able to follow the magic boy if he managed to get pass the patrols.

***

It took him much more time than he though to get out of town. Once sheltered from the guards looking for intruders on top of the city walls, he retrieved the path created by his spell.

_"Scin scire!"_

The path sparkled. It was disappearing into the bushes on the other side of the road.

"Great!"

He spotted the two guards who would definitely be able to see him if he crossed the road. He picked a bunch of branches on the grounds.

"That will have to do _. Gesigle!_ " His eyes flashed golden and the branches flew off his hands, miming a bird in the night. The guards would not notice the difference.

It worked. The guards gazed towards the "bird" made of branches, not noticing Merlin sprinting to the other side of the road. Once there, he continued to walk and summoned the trail once more. The boy had surely started to run, because the trail was driving far away into the woods. Merlin jogged, following the trail for about fifteen minutes before something strange happened.

***

The fourth time he summoned the trail, he thought his magic had malfunctioned.  The golden trail was depicting a very singular path going in every possible direction. What was the meaning of all this?

_"Expelliarmus!"_

Merlin sensed the dagger attached to his belt slip away from its pouch. He followed the dagger's flight until it reached a pair of hands in the air. Harry was half hidden behind a three, a stick in his right hand and the dagger in left one. The fear made him froze. Had this been a trap all along? He saw a bunch of metallic fabric reflecting the moonlight beside Harry. If he could reach it he would be able to turn himself invisible, like the boy previously had.

 The bespectacled boy cleared his throat and spoke.

"I kind of hoped for a wand to pop out from your jacket. A dagger is kind of useless for someone like you."

Harry was still pointing the stick and the dagger in Merlin's direction.

"What do you want? Why were you following me?"

Incredulous, Merlin asked a question in return:

"Why are you wandering in the woods at night?"

"I asked first, you answer first."

Harry was shaking, as if he was afraid of something. Merlin answered as frankly as his situation allowed him:

"Erm... Gaius told me to keep an eye on you."

"That's not the real answer, is it?"

"Yes, it is."

"I don't believe you. Hermione told me you were a bad liar and that's clearly a lie."

Merlin made a helpless movement with his arms.

"How could she know? I've been around her for less than two hours since you three arrived in Camelot!"

"C'mon. Everybody knows you, Merlin."

"I'm a simple servant!" Tried Merlin.

"You can convince Arthur with this simple line but that doesn't work with me."

Merlin raised his eyebrows. It was definitely time to be frank.

"Okay, then. I'm following you because you behave like a total freak and you wander around the castle looking like a total criminal. You act like you're at your girlfriend service but you don't seem to have any clues about how to behave when you're in front a nobles. Incidentally,  _your oh so noble_  mistress is very polite but her outfits from the day we found you clearly weren't noble and after I heard the sound the damn pouch you have in your pocket made in Morgana's chambers I can't possibly think of another reason for your presence than to bring chaos in Camelot with some kind of magic of I don't know."

He had spoken very fast and loudly, and Harry had fixed him with one of these intense looks that only Arthur was capable of doing. After a moment of silence, Harry pulled his arms down. He let the dagger fall down to the ground and reached the pouch bag in his pocket.

"Hermione warned me you would probably get nosy after that incident in Morgana's chambers."

"Everything seems to be Hermione's doing,” Merlin remarked.” Hermione's will, Hermione's statement, Hermione's warning, Hermione's suggestion, what is so special about her?"

Harry smiled. The atmosphere eased up. Harry grabbed the dagger from the ground and handed it back to Merlin.

"She's the brightest witch of her age, that's what's so special about her."

To talk about magic so lightly made Merlin jump.

"Don't tell me you had no idea we had magic after all what you witnessed. I'm pretty sure we're not the first sorcerers coming by your way."

Harry sat down on the ground and invited Merlin to do the same. Afterwards he took the beaded bag and handed it to Merlin.

"Don't be shy, take a look inside, you'll be sure there's nothing who can harm Camelot/  At least, you'll see no relation between the dangerous objects and your royal master."

"So you admit there are dangerous things in that bag."

"Yeah. Beware of the sword, the blade had been involuntarily enhanced with basilisk venom, and it can kill you in two minutes if you get injured by it."

Harry pointed his stick to the bag.

_"Accio sword!"_

A silver sword popped out of the bag. Harry easily grabbed it before it reached to ground. Then he showed it to Merlin:

_"Lumos"_

 

A light appeared at end of the stick, illumining the sword enough to see the details. The sword was shining and seemed very well sharpened. The name  _Godric Gryffindor_  was engraved on the blade in calligraphic letters. Rubies were encrusted on the pommel and the guard of the hilt.

"It's a beautiful sword." Merlin declared, somehow awed.

"It's very old" said Harry. "Well, in theory, it is for me, but not for you."

"What?"

There was something wrong with this whole, crazy situation. Why was Harry so willing to let Merlin know everything about them? It seemed too easy. Merlin had pictured a fight and some resistance as it was always the case when he come across sorcerers claiming a place to rest in Camelot Castle.

"Why are you being so confident about me all of a sudden?"

"Let's say Hermione, Ron and I agreed over some things yesterday that changed everything."

Merlin carefully gave the sword to Harry.

"The sword have been very useful to us. Not to kill people of course, but to kill things that can't be killed with ordinary weapons or with strong magic."

"Erm...What are these things exactly? Because if I am to meet some in the future I could use your advices on how it looks like."

"You would seek my advice? I suggest you search the rest of the bag before deciding if I'm worthy of your thrust. I hope it will be of course, but it'll be an interesting exercise to search the bag anyway. I've got nothing to do for the rest of the night."

Merlin frowned.

"Why did you leave the castle if you don't have anything to do in the woods?"

"Everything I need to do is in the bad" Harry laughed."Hermione only wanted me to recover things that were in the bag, but we couldn't take the chance to open it while in Camelot, so I said I would go in the wood during the night and return in the morning. I told her I’d simply say that  I had recover the belongings we had lost while we got attacked by the bandits."

"I'm guessing you've never been attacked by the bandits."

It took some time for Harry to answer.

"That's a story for later. Just search the bag now please or I might begin to think you're not as sincere as you seem when you ask me questions. You're not waiting for soldiers to come and kill me aren't you?"

"Of course not! I always work on these kinds of things alone."

Despite the bizarreness of the whole situation, Merlin was happy to talk about magic so freely. He would need to ask the youngsters about the nature of their magic later, which seemed very different from his.  All this could be a trap, but the boy seemed to worry Merlin was trapping him too, which kind of self-defeated the trap possibility. However, he had merely begun to search rest of the beaded bag when they heard a very loud noise mixing up rock smashing, fire explosion and violent wind coming from Camelot.

_“What was that?”_

***

Merlin rushed to the city gates, with Harry on his heels. The sight of the city walls horrified them. Fire was everywhere, and the force of the wind was atrocious.

"What the...." muttered Harry. He took the higher part of his cloak and covered his face up to his eyes. "Could this be a dragon's doing?"

"Impossible" said Merlin gravely. “The only dragon still living today is very much trapped under the castle ground.”

"Oh.... and he's the last one? Which race is he?"

"Sorry?"

"Nothing."

They sprinted toward the castle. They passed off the knights and the guards who didn't bother stopping them as they would usually have done. They were too busy helping the citizens of the lower town getting inside the citadel.  Harry was faster than Merlin and he was the first to pass the wooden gate of the castle's principal entrance. However, instead of climbing the stairs to Gaius's Chambers as Merlin would have normally done, he headed east to the Lady Morgana's chambers.

"What the heck are you doing? If someone can help us it's definitely Gaius!"

"Sorry not to have much faith in your knowledgeable tutor, but I trust Hermione more than anyone else, and it's certainly not going to change because of you!" Harry shouted while climbing the stairs.

They passed by many servants and guards on their way to the Lady's chamber and by the time they arrived to the doorstep Merlin was out of breath.

"How... can you... possibly... be fast... like that...?"

"I've had many years of practice and believe me, it wasn't only to escape my cousin, Merlin."

He knocked on the door impatiently, several times:

"Hermione!"

_knock knock knock..._

 

_"Hermione I know you are in there open the freakin' door!"_

_knock knock..._

_"Hermione for god's sake please!"_

BAM.

The Lady Morgana opened the door, horrified to see a mere servant had such rude manners.

"We were told to hide in my chambers and to get out on no purpose, now why aren't you helping G..."

"Sorry My Lady but I need to speak to Hermione.  _Now_!"

"Hurry in Harry what are you waiting for?"

Hermione was standing beside Morgana.

"Please My Lady, let them enter, I beg you." Her tone was imprint of worry and stress and her eyebrows were crisped in concern.

Merlin and Harry quickly entered and closed the door behind them.

"Tell us what happened Hermione, we were..." Harry sighed at Merlin. "We were hanging out at the tavern, we didn't see much."

Morgana spoke out.

"Well... we didn't see much of it either, but we did see a dark shadow at the top of one of the towers."

"And the fire came from it?" asked Merlin, incredulous.

"No." affirmed Hermione. "It came from another tower very close to ours. We could see the fire spreading in the lower town below but it was too high for us to see its origin."

"We must find it" declared Merlin.

"Merlin, as much as I think of you as a brave servant, I think you should let this job to Arthur and the knights." Morgana replied firmly. "Uther said we were safe here and we should stay put until more news comes in. If you really want to help, then go help Gaius with the wounded in the audience room."

Merlin stood still for a moment. Since when did Morgana prefer to stay in her chambers instead of helping people in the castle in times of need? Hermione and Harry were now talking beside her. Morgana answered as if she had read his mind.

"I know normally I would already be there and you wouldn't have found me here. But Lady Hermione is still recovering and I think it's fair that I stay with her for the moment."

"But she walked out of the castle just yesterday!"

"And she nearly fainted when we went back to the castle."

Merlin was still suspicious. He could hear Harry and Hermione's murmurs beside them. Morgana approached Merlin carefully. She spoke with her soft and worried voice, the same one he had only heard one time.

"Look at her Merlin. Look at the boy. They're not ordinary. There is something with them, I'm sure you can sense it. I feel like I owe her something... like a protection. Like when I felt I was linked to the Druid boy last year, do you remember?"

"...Yes, yes I remember."

"My job right now is to keep that girl safe, whatever and whoever she is. Keep an eye on the boys. I'm sure they aren't here for no reason." Morgana’s voice was soft. She was nearly begging now. She knew Merlin would understand her.

"Yes. Okay, right."

***

The guards were still searching for the chaos that originated when the dawn came. The sun raised slowly as the mess in the courtyard and the town was slowly cleaned. Earlier, Merlin and Harry had rushed to Gaius chambers only to find a peaceful Ron snoring, completely alone. Gaius was surely in the audience room trying to clean and mend wounds and broken arms. Merlin wanted to go help Gaius downstairs but Harry had suggested they climb higher up on the castle roof to search for traces of magic, which Merlin had gladly accepted. Having someone to help him on a magic business mission was something he had dreamed for a long time. It was relieving to be able to share a secret with someone who shared the same burden.

They had walked upon the roof, keeping a low profile in case they would be spotted by citizens or guards looking up the sky. Their investigation had been cut short after they had spotted guards walking on the roof, too. Beside burns traces, they had found nothing. After that, they had found a pretty comfortable and safe spot on the roof near Merlin's room in Gaius's quarters. They were so close to it they could nearly hear Ron's snores if they listened carefully. The sun was rising and everything seemed peaceful... except for the mess going on under them. Several houses had been burned and there were several damages to the castle wall. Overall, there was nothing worse than that.

"So... when we were in the forest, you said you needed to retrieve some things. Why don't do it now? It'll be easy to do as if you were simply helping to clean the night's mess." Merlin proposed. "Plus, you can show me, because you seriously puzzle me." he lowered his tone. "The spells you used back there, in the forest, I've never heard of them, and yet they seemed... easy."

"Oh yeah, they are some of the most basic spells we learn when we begin to study magic... besides the levitating spell, which is the first one we usually learn." Harry seemed uncomfortable, but Merlin was excited to hear someone talk about studying magic.

"You study magic? How? I mean, do you have a mentor? Someone who has already learned it, like an old sorcerer?"

"Well, yes."

"And since when do you have magic?"

Harry found the question to be strange.

"Well, everybody has it inside them when they are born but it usually develops between the age of 5 and 10, from what I heard."

Merlin looked at Harry as if he had spoken gibberish.

"Everybody's born with magic? How can it be possible? Gaius always told me I was the only one born with magic."

"I think he meant that you are the only one  _whose magic developed right after birth_. Which surely make you special. I'm not as perceptive as Hermione, but think about it. How could magic not be inside a magical person since birth? It doesn't seem like something you can catch, like a disease or something."

"How do you know that I could use my powers at birth? I never told you."

Harry kept quiet for a moment:

"You... you just did."

"No, I said I was born with magic, I never said anything about using magic at birth."

"It's the same thing, you know it."

Merlin relaxed a bit. He glanced at Harry, who seemed worried

"You don't have to keep it to yourself you know. It's not going to be easy if you keep keeping secrets even to those of your kind."

"Don't go thinking I don't trust you, Merlin. It's just that I don't think I'm the right person to explain everything. Hermione is much better in history than I am, and she'll be able to tell us ours in a much better way than I can."

"You have so much trust in this girl, she certainly can't just be the wisest of you three."

"Yes... no! No it's not just that." Harry was seemed to struggle in his explanations." I'm generally the leader, because I'm the best one at defensive spells and my instincts are more developed than Hermione or Ron's ones. Hermione is usually the second-in-command, and Ron act as a very useful helping hand. He completes us. But this... this is a matter of Hermione's expertise. This is one of those... very, very embarrassing moments where I feel like a complete idiot and I absolutely need to rely on Hermione to avoid messing everything up."

Merlin smiled slightly.

"That doesn't really answer my question, but I'll take what I can get."

"To make it simple, she has a very, highly logical mind which avoids the kind of gibberish I am doing right now."

"Okay."

They stayed silent for a while, then Harry spoke very quickly.

"We need to tell you everything because we are sure you can help us with this very embarrassing problem of ours."

"Sorry?"

"Just... wait for us to explain. I think this afternoon will be fit. Now we should get back to your quarters, your Prince will probably  be searching for you and I can help you do your chores until the right time comes."

They stood up and, as would two very close friends, they helped each other get down the roof and they carefully made their way back to Gaius chambers.

 

***

"I still can't believe how much you rely on that girl."

Merlin had been working with Harry all afternoon, doing chores for Gaius. Arthur was doing some bidding for his father in the lower town and he hadn't bothered to summon Merlin. Normally he would have found it odd and gone to find him, but today, he really didn't bother about Arthur. Not that he was turning his back to his destiny, of course, because he had come to like Arthur and everything, but it wasn't the same thing as hanging out with someone of his kind... someone who had magic.

"Why is it so surprising to admit Hermione's cleverer than me or Ron? I mean, it's more useful to be aware of our strengths and weaknesses than take the lead on the one fact that Ron and I are males and she's a woman."

"Well, if you hadn't come up with that half-baked manservant thing, Uther would certainly have punished the girl for speaking up before a men."

"This is so stupid. I can't believe this tradition stayed in men's mind for so long."

Merlin's interest in the trio's friendship and behaviour was unbelievable. He wanted to know as much things as possible while he could. They had been talking like this for hours.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, even in our...  _time_  (he had muttered that word) the equality between men and women is still something people are getting used to, and believe me, this is quite counter-productive."

"Would you mind explain further?" Merlin said, his lips all pressed together as he was getting on washing one of Gaius's robes.

"Well, imagine you are a mature man with an average intelligence. You work with a younger but very clever woman who has a lot of ambition and wants to get the job done in the right way. Now, based on the facts that you are older and male, you are, by default, considered as the woman's superior. Some of the men take advantage of this ‘default’ superiority to take the other down and make themselves look all powerful even if the woman would definitely be a better leader. This is counter-productive, because the woman's intelligence could lead to simpler and better solutions of problems, but she can't express it because she's not considered superior enough to do so. It's the same thing among men here. I mean, how many times have you warned Arthur about stuff he didn't care to listen just because he was superior to you? And how many time did you end up being right? Above all, how many times did you have to get Arthur out of trouble because he didn't listen to you in the first place?"

"I've lost count!" Merlin exclaimed. He was half laughing, half troubled. Harry was right and yet, there was nothing he could do about it.

"Your girl friend is clever, but yet you still seem to be the leader of the group to me. How is that?"

"It's complicated. Again, I should probably wait until this afternoon."

"... Okay, then."

***

Merlin escaped Arthur's sight - not that it was difficult - in the afternoon. He was set to meet Harry along with Ron and Hermione just outside the castle. He told Gaius he was off Arthur's service for the afternoon and he would go gather some herbs. Along his little escape path from Arthur's sight; however, his eyes noticed a strange pattern in the castle's life, everybody seemed unnaturally cold. Cold from each other, cold hands - everybody was trying to heat their hands with their breath - and cold, sad eyes.

Of course they were sad. They had all lost something in the last days attack.

But Merlin  _sensed_  something.

As if he was looking at a tapestry and there was a big hole in the middle of it. A big hole full of ice cubes.

He took off, conscious that every second until now counted; after all, Arthur was oblivious, but as soon as he would notice Merlin's disappearance, he would start to search for him, whatever reason it was for. Merlin took the path to the lower town, where he saw the tree figures he was searching for. Ron looked like hell (he was the most wounded of them after all) and Harry and Hermione both had a sumptuous smile on their face.

An afternoon with fellow sorcerers. This was definitely going to be the best afternoon of his life.

***

After a great start, the afternoon became more and more troubling. They were now walking in on a clearing. The wind blew in Hermione's puffy hair as she talked about the history of their world and their role in it. Apparently, destiny wasn't mentioned as often as it was at this time in Camelot, but Harry had heard enough of this for a lifetime.

"...So Harry, Ron and I took off at the end of August to hunt the Horcruxes. It's the only way to destroy Voldemort."

"That Horcrux thing reminds me of a sorcerer who came back earlier this year” Merlin said.” His name was Cornelius Sigan. He put his soul into a heart-shaped diamond which glows blue. I managed to get the soul back in the diamond when it was released by a very ambitious but idiot thief.  Gaius specifically said it was impossible to kill the soul, or to kill Sigan."

"Cornelius Sigan is the first known wizard to ever produce a Horcrux. It took several centuries apparently to find a way to kill the soul."

Hermione spoke to him in a very intellectual manner that would be very fit for a noblewoman. No wonder the guys were so keen to let her do the talking.

As much as Merlin liked the magical company, the feeling of not having to hide himself, all the talking of the last few hours made him feel uncomfortable. Why were these people so keen to open their hearts and souls to him?

"Why are you telling me all this?"

“It’s... complicated.”

They stopped by a little stream to fill their water bottle. Hermione helped Ron to sit down. Everything seemed painful. Now that he had heard their story, moreover Harry's story, he started to think maybe sorcerers were doomed to struggle though complicated destinies for the rest of eternity. But then again, he had only met a bunch of his kinds and these tree youngsters weren't even from his time.

"Besides..." He hesitated for a moment, troubled. "Besides all the war and the things going on in your country, is... is magic seen as a good gift? For a human, I mean."

Harry closed his bottle and stretched his legs.

"Humans who don't have magic don't know magic still exists in our world, Merlin. For people like the ones in Camelot, (he made a slight pause) ... like Prince Arthur or his father, magic only exists in child stories."

"What?" Merlin exclaimed, horrified. Would this mean he wasn't meant to succeed to bring magic back to Albion after all?

"In 1476, the International Wizarding Federation signed a very important Law treaty stating that magic was to be hidden from muggles - sorry, normal people - to prevent any more purges of mages. I do know magic returned to Camelot, at least, according to most legend books -"

"Most?"

"As we told you, Merlin, Camelot and Albion consist of a bunch of blurry and incoherent stories about a great sorcerer - you - and a king who worked together toward peace. But we don't want to spoil you anything so I won't talk about your destiny, surely you understand that." Hermione concluded, looking straight ahead.

"Yeah."

"Good."

Ron moaned in pain and Hermione turned her back on Merlin and Harry. Harry was standing beside a tree and looking at his two friends with a sad look. There was something like despair in his eyes.

"C'mon, Merlin, we'll walk a bit. Ron can't walk any longer anyway."

"Go on, then." said Hermione. As Merlin and Harry walked away, they saw Hermione and Ron walk back to the castle.

***

They walked in silence for a moment. Merlin still had loads of questions, but he was beginning to feel like an unwanted intruder in their lives. Harry was more open than the others to talk to Merlin, and he liked it. After hearing their stories and what Harry was meant to do something that helped Merlin create a mental bond to the boy. The two of them had a very similar destiny after all.

However young they were, they carried the burden of duty to the word, and to the future. Harry had to save his world, and Merlin had to create his own after the tyrannical destruction Uther had caused upon the lands all those years ago in his desire to clean the land from all form of magic. That was already a gigantic task for people as young as them.

"I need to tell you something, Merlin.” Harry spoke softly, “but I would appreciate it if you didn't tell anything to Ron and Hermione."

Merlin looked at him in surprise.

"What could you possibly want to tell me but not your two best friends?"

"It's a delicate matter."

"I'm listening."

They continued to walk in silence for a moment. They found a fallen log and sat on it. Harry took a twig on the forest floor and played mindlessly with it - like a child who's bored. Then, after a moment, he spoke, as if his words were worth a thousand pounds each.

"I am not supposed to get out of this quest alive, Merlin."

A pause.

"How do you know that?"

"It's just a guess, but I'm nearly sure it's a good one, for a change."

"Go on, explain. You'll feel better after that."

Harry proceeded. He told a slightly different story from the one Merlin had heard earlier, because it was from his point of view. Harry explained how he could make the difference between Voldemort's Horcruxes and the normal objects, how he could speak Parseltongue, the language of snakes, without knowing why, and how the prophecy that was made about him and the Dark Wizard they were hunting was full of _if_ and _maybe's_.

"... My professor, Dumbledore, he taught me some useful things to help me on this quest. The more I think about what he taught me, the more I believe he taught me these things and got Ron and Hermione to follow me because they're the one who are supposed to finish the job. So... - he was struggling to speak now - that's it. I hope I haven't put another weight on your shoulder by telling you that. That wasn't my intention. I just needed to tell it to someone."

Merlin thought about his words carefully before speaking. He feared not to make it out of his own great destiny alive, too, but his wasn't as clear as Harry's, with prophecies and all.

"Maybe there is a way for you to get out of this. Maybe someone has an information you don't have and will hand it to you at the right moment."

"I hope so."

Birds were singing playfully around them. Apparently animals were drawn to magical people because most of them had a pure aura. Anyway, that's what Hermione had said earlier.

"You need to get us out of this time and space, Merlin."Harry declared..

"I know. I got that it was the purpose of all this afternoon's conversation. Explaining things to me so I could help you." Merlin said. Of course it was. But they had had the sanity to be polite and gentle and friendly with him. He was thankful for that.

"We know you're not the powerful sorcerer you're meant to be, but if there is someone in this world that is powerful enough to send us back from where we came, it's  you."

"Mhmm. If there is something I can do, I'll need to do some research."

"Sure."

Merlin knew Harry wasn't over. The young boy had something else on his mind.

"What is it?" Merlin asked, poking Harry with a stick in an attempt to cheer him up.

"I believe that if you're going to help us, we need to help you first." Harry declared.

"What kind of help would I need?"

"With the sorcerer trying to destroy Camelot with his giant pet...a salamander."

" _Salamander? Sorcerer?_  You're not serious!”

"Yeah, and if Hermione can recall these old history books Ron and I never bothered to read, we're going to get through this very easily."

 

***

When Merlin finally came back from the woods he had to attend to Arthur. Harry helped him clean Arthur's armor with a rather efficient cleaning spell. Merlin had been so surprised to see him do magic so openly, even if they had been in an unused anti-chamber of an old empty room in the west wing of the castle. Afterwards, Harry had suggested to go help Gaius instead and had left the room where Merlin was working.

When Merlin came back from the armory with Arthur's armor, chainmail and ceremony sword in his hands, he was welcome by a silver cup flying past his nose.

"Where-the-hell- _have you been_?"

 

"In the armoury,  _sire_. Working on  _your armor_."

 

"No, you haven't. I went to the armoury during the afternoon,  _Three times_. You weren't there."

Arthur's tone was bitter and dry.

"Well I've also been running around the castle doing other chores so maybe you missed me."

"Which kinds of chores? The stables are still dirty, my chambers are a mess, the laundry hasn't been done and all the shirts I requested you to mend _still_  have holes!

"What's got into you these past few days? I do almost every chore you demand me every day and still you act like a jerk!"

" _One more comment like that and I swear you'll spend the night in the dungeons."_ retorted Arthur coldly.

There was way too much seriousness in Arthur's voice, so Merlin decided to give it a rest (again) and proceeded in collecting some clothes on the stone floor. They weren't particularly dirty, but if Arthur was angry, it was clear he was going to work out his anger on Merlin by giving him extra things to do.

"Don't mind the clothes, you're accompanying me on patrol around the town until nightfall."

"Nightfall? Do you want some er... snack before we go out? Otherwise you'll dine late."

"Nevermind that. There... there has been an incredibly high amount of flames lighting up randomly in the town these past two months, and it has increased since that obvious attack some nights ago. My father wants me to investigate it. We're going to collect testimonials and maybe after Geoffrey will be able to find what kind of creature is hiding inside our city."

"Okay."

"Again, don't talk to me like that."

 _"_ What? _Okay."_ Merlin frowned, but didn't say anything. Normally he would have had the guts to ask Arthur why he was so upset but something kept him from doing it. He would have time later... or maybe not, since he had already told himself the same thing at least twice since they had found the trio.

Merlin followed Arthur to the lower town. The sun was already digging his way down the sky. They would probably be investigating for an hour or two before the sun came down entirely.

***

Arthur was very professional and knightly while talking to the peasants in the lower town. He seemed as serious and noble as he generally was on a normal-to-good day. Except each time he turned to Merlin his face his expression turned to one of anger and disgust.

They spent more time talking to the people in the lower town than originally planned. By the time they reached the castle courtyard, the sky was black and stars could be seen between vaporous clouds.

"Why is it you're so upset these days?" Merlin tried. Arthur seemed tensed, but not as much as before.

"Shut up."

"It would be much nicer if you just told me. That way I could try and make things better."

"Like hell. You would certainly make it worse."

"Try me." said Merlin in the most casual voice he could sound.

"Don't."

"I said, _try me_."

"No." Arthur  simply said.

They walked through the castle in silence until they reached the prince's quarters. Then, Merlin proceeded to help Arthur out of his clothes and then went to fetch the prince's meal in the kitchens. Merlin bumped into a very shy Hermione along the way:

"Oh sorry, Merlin! Er...what are you up to?"

"Getting Arthur his marvelous dinner."

"This late?"

"We've been searching for traces of that mysterious erm...thing... Harry and I talked about during the afternoon. Seems like the king has heard rumors about it too."

"Off you go, then."

When Merlin came back to Arthur chambers with a plate of food and a jug of wine, he found the room to be empty. Arthur wasn't there.

Great, Merlin thought.  _It certainly won't be my fault if it gets cold._

Then he heard it. A sort of Bang outside the castle. He ran to the window, opened it and peaked outside carefully.

He couldn't see the source, but there was definitely some sort of light coming from the roof of the castle. Yellow light, actually. People were peaking their heads out of the windows, like him, and people were standing in the courtyard.

_Oh no._

_No no no no no._

He spotted Arthur along with several knights including Sir Kay and Sir Leon, trying to calm people in the courtyard.  Oh god. Arthur wasn’t even wearing his chainmail and armour. The light was getting brighter now, Merlin could see its reflection on other windows of the castle. Merlin quickly got every piece of Arthur's armour out, placed it on the table in a rush, and sprinted out of the room to Gaius's quarters.

***

The warlock bumped  into Hermione along his way up to the physician chambers. She was worried, now.

"Tell me you saw the fire."

"It really is a fire then? I only saw the light."

They kept conversation to a minimum until they reached Gaius's quarters. There, they found the plate empty. Gaius was surely in the hall setting things up in case they the fire on the roof turned into an attack.

"I can't believe we just spent three hours talking to people in the lower town and ended up missing something on the roof." Merlin said.

But Hermione wasn't listening to him.

"...Ron, Harry? You in there?"

They heard footstep coming from Merlin's room.

"Yeah, Harry just climbed on the rooftop. He's trying to have some visual on the  _Salamancer_."

Merlin and Hermione entered the messy room that was Merlin's bedroom.

"Please, Ron, we've got at least 1000 years of knowledge ahead of him." Hermione stated in Merlin's defence.

"What's a  _Salamancer_?"

"The sorcerer who's controlling the salamander burning up your castle roof, for god's sake!"

"Who's god?" asked Merlin.

"Oh bloody hell!" exclaimed Ron. "No god at this time in history? Well, it should never have been created anyway."

Behind them, Hermione was emptying her magic pouch, throwing books on Merlin's bed as if it was perfectly normal to have a bag greater on the inside. Merlin climbed up the window. The height was frightening, but right now all he hoped was not to be seen by the citizens who were looking for the fire on the other extremity of the castle.

Harry lay flat on the rooftop. He was so pressed against it that Merlin wouldn't probably had noticed him if he hadn't been searching for him. He wasn't wearing the red shirt Merlin had lent to him, but a black shirt with sleeves cut mid-arm and a round collar. He wore a pair of those blue pants he was wearing when he and his friends had been found. And those strange shoes with laces and colors and a strange fabric.

"I bet Arthur wasn't in a very good mood after we returned from the woods." Muttered Harry as Merlin laid down beside him, not bothering looking away fromwhatever he was looking at. There was a way in which Harry investigated that Merlin liked. Hermione was really cleverer than him, but Harry had the leadership of the warrior. He was there, lying on his belly, eyes fixed on something Merlin couldn't see yet, and whatever it was, it seemed important.

Harry had a bit of Arthur's personality in him, Merlin thought. He tried to melt himself in the pieces of the rooftop like Harry, but the boy stopped him.

"Don't move, or we'll be caught!"

"What are you looking at?"

Harry moved slowly, his arms up to his nose and pointed in a direction right across them. Not 10 feet away, a man was standing his back facing Harry and Merlin, his black cloak swirling and floating in the wind.

"Oh my..."

"Shush!" Harry breathed.

 Merlin could feel the heat of the fire growing not far from their hiding place. He looked at the burning flames. People were already there, trying to put it out with water. It wasn't working, because whenever a bucket of water was emptied, another fire was lit somewhere else around the area. Merlin spotted a tiny lizard, measuring only one foot approximately, scotched on one of the castle wall below the fire. "

"That's a salamander?"

Harry didn't respond, because the sorcerer made a sudden move. He looked behind him, as if he had heard Merlin. But he wasn't quite looking in their direction. After a moment, he turned his head back to the show that was offering Camelot's guards with their attempt at extinguishing the fire.

"I need to trap the salamander” Harry declared.

"What?" jerked Merlin.

"It's the easiest way to trap the Salamancer."

There was a silence, during which the two of them looked at the Salamancer, who was now much far away from them.

"How do you know so much about those sorcerers?"

"We studied them, responded Harry, in a Defence Against the Dark Arts course during our third year. Well, we mostly studied salamanders, but since Salamancers are connected, we read on them too."

"How do you bring them down?"

Harry smirked and laughed.

"It's quite easy in fact, but let's get going, I'm sure your Prince can handle the sit..."

He didn't get the time to finish his sentence, as an explosion caused a part of the roof to collapse.

 _"Arthur!"_  Merlin cried, panicked. Before he knew what he was doing, he was up on his feet, and his arms were stretched, knocking down the Salamancer and blowing a fearful amount of wind that put out the fire - well, most of it.

He could see the shadow of Arthur's body moving behind the curtain of fog and smoke.

"He's okay now Merlin. Let's go."

Merlin searched for the Salamancer, but where he should have been, there was nothing. And the salamander was gone as well.

"He vanished? How can he flee like that? No one can disappear through thin air! "

"Actually, people can!" Harry exclaimed, still laying down on his stomach, but he was now at the edge of the roof at the top of Merlin's bedroom. It was more than time to get back between the castle walls. Soldiers and knights were rushing toward them, but didn't seem to have noticed them, surely because of the smoke. They were standing opposite to the moon, of course they couldn't. It was what had permitted Merlin to see Arthur's shadow.

***

Back in Merlin's bedroom, they could hear people running on the rooftop. Dust fell on them as people passed. Harry had made sure to erase every trace of their presence on the roof before getting back into the room. There they stood, silent, as Camelot's peacekeepers passed.

Sometime later, several books were opened on Merlin's bed, and Hermione was silently studying them. Her hands brushed the pages softly, and she closed one book, putting him on a pile on the floor.

"What are you searching for?" Merlin asked once he was sure no more guards or knights were close enough to the room to overhear them.

"A way to get back home." She replied, still concentrated on the book laying on her lap.

"I thought you said there wasn't anything useful in your books?"

"I am searching information about house elves magic, actually. I noted down what Ron know about them, but it's not enough."

"What purpose does it serve?"

Hermione looked at him intensely. She was shy.

"You are the most powerful sorcerer the world has ever known, Merlin. If I can find a match between your abilities and house elves magic, we'll be able to find our way to the 21st century. I only need a procedure house elves uses to interfere with time and space for you to reproduce."

Merlin stared at her in shock.

"You really think I will be able to do this? What if I end up crushing you to death into space?"

"You won't."

In her eyes, he could see all the trust she put in him. Ron, still weak, joined her and continued to search the books with her. Merlin and Harry joined them after a moment.

And they sat like this in silence all night, until, not long after dawn illuminated the sky, Ron cried in triumph.

 

***

"This is crazy."

"No it's not."

"Yeah, it is! What if I can't get the spell right and you three end up on Uther's pyre for treason by magic?"

Merlin was out of his mind. He couldn't believe what Harry, Ron and Hermione wanted him to do. It was like they took him for something he wasn't. Because seriously, he was pretty sure he wasn't as powerful as they seemed to think. They were overestimating him and he didn't know what to do to make them understand because honestly,  _who the hell_  would know what to do in front of three teenagers born more than 1000 years after them?

"Merlin, dear, I don't think you know what you are capable of. Be confident! We know you can do it!" Hermione said in a motherly voice.

Merlin tried his best not to lose his temper. It was insane, and there was much more at stake than those three youngster's mission about the horcruxes and school and sorcerers.

"No,  _you_  don't know what  _my level_  is. You only know me from the tales you've heard back there, in your time. Half of those tales could be false, and the other half could be boosted so I look like a hero which would also be untrue, because  _I am not a hero_. I am not going to do this for you. It's too dangerous. Maybe there are elves out there, in this realm, who can help you get back in your time. Ask them to do it. But don't ask of me what you just asked. End of discussion. Now I am going to attend to Arthur and think about all this. Maybe I'll come up with something more intelligent and less suicidal."

And he stormed out of the room.

***

Merlin knew it wasn't him to behave like he did in front of the three sorcerers. But hell, their plan was insanely dangerous, both for them and for him. Because even with all that was going on, he still remembered the Dragon's speech about him and Arthur and their entwined destinies. And he was going to do this right now, before nightfall, because surely the Salamancer would strike again and if the three sorcerers were insane, they were right about one thing; he had to be stopped, and the salamander had to be killed or Camelot would be all flames and ashes by the end of the week.

Lost in his thoughts, he didn't knock before entering his master's chambers and was greeted by a cup flying at him.

"Ah, now where have you been,  _again_?! Have you been sleeping all night like an idiot? Are you deaf enough not to have heard everything in the courtyard and the castle?"

Merlin simply stood there, shocked by the state of the room; everything was on the floor, even the heavy wooden-made wardrobe.

" _What-the-hell-happened-here?"_

"What happened here is YOU didn't report to me after last night's attack and I was  _angry_!"

It was common to see Arthur being a usual prat and being very unpleasant, but this time he wasn't only unhappy, he was nearly enraged.

"You've never asked me to report to you in such situations, sire. You know I generally assist Gaius when trouble strikes on Camelot." Merlin stated in his most polite tone.

Arthur didn't answer, nor did he react. Instead he went silent, looking by the window. Neither he nor Merlin spoke for a moment, letting the sound of the castle life filling their ears.

"I should have investigated the matter further."

Arthur spoke with such a low voice it had been barely audible.

"What?"

"That first day, when we found the three lads in the forest, I was upset."

"...Okay?" Merlin couldn't see where this was leading.

"I was upset because the night before, I had made a moonlight walk on the castle and I saw a shadow."

"A shadow in the night isn't uncommon, Arthur."

"Do you often see a shadow climbing turrets on their own, Merlin?"

"...No."

Arthur continued, and Merlin let him talk, this time.

"I saw the shadow, but I was tired that night, and didn't investigate the matter further. I didn't even report the matter to the guard... didn't bother going to the turret. I let myself be lazy and went to bed after finishing my walk. The next morning, my father summoned me, and told me that a window had been broken in that same turret. I was upset that day because I knew something wasn't right and I couldn't bring myself telling the truth to my father. So I did what I always did: I drowned my anger down the drain by going for a hunt, because I find it funny making you do things I know you don't like."

A short silence followed.

"Well, thanks for admitting you like to torture me."

Merlin knew he had crossed a line, but Arthur was too worried to make him remember that.

"Clean my rooms. I will be helping the court advisors to do a summary of all the events that happened last night and shall help the knights clean things up a bit... again."

And Arthur left. Just like that. Merlin proceeded to clean the chambers, barely noticing Harry enter the quarters and giving him a hand. Harry didn't say a word, conscious that Merlin needed some time in his peace bubble.

***

The sun was hiding behind the threes when Merlin was finally ready to talk to Harry, Ron and Hermione. Maybe he was going to be able to do this, after all. Maybe the only thing he needed was their trust, their confidence that he would succeed.

"Okay, please, explain everything from the beginning. I'm ready."

The trio proceeded. They talked, revised their plan, practiced some useful shield spells, and they even gave Merlin a spare wand Hermione had in her beaded bag so he would be able to perform a water-pouring spell without having to concentrate on summoning and controlling his magic. They told him the wand had once been to a Snatcher - whatever that was - and has nothing particularly special, so it wouldn't be very useful for him for more powerful spells he would have to perform during his bumpy ride on Destiny road with Arthur. He hadn't won the wand either, which was supposedly an act in which the wand accepted a sorcerer as his right beholder, so they warned him the wand would be a bit stubborn with him, even if it wouldn't affect a simple spell like the  _Aguamenti_  spell.

And then the warning bells rang.

***

 

Arthur was already in the courtyard, dressed in his armor, ready to fight with the other knights. Not a single fire had been lighted yet, but the Salamancer had supposedly been spotted next to a gargoyle on the castle roof.

Merlin and the trio waited in Arthur's chamber, where they had a good view on the courtyard.

"Aren't you afraid Uther's men will start shooting at you once they realize you have magic too?" Merlin asked.

"No,” answered Hermione. “Our protection spells are strong, and we've been using them daily for months now. Arrows won't be able to pierce it."

They all looked back into the darkness of the night, searching for the shadow. But they didn't find one. Instead of a shadow, they found a body. A huge, scaly, red and black body.

"AAAAAAAH!"

"OH MY GOD BACK FROM THE WINDOW QUICK!"

The belly of the salamander made the window crack as it passed by. The reptile was  _huge_ , red, and its body’s emitted red flames. Merlin was absolutely stunned.

"The creature's on fire?! That's what is spreading the fire! The creature itself!"

"Yes Merlin. It is an elemental of fire after all."

Parts of the window were made of wood, and they began to burn.

"Use the spell we showed you, Merlin!" said the trio all at once.

Merlin concentrated a bit and draw the wooden wand out of his jacket:

_"Aguamenti!"_

Water splashed on the window with great force, which seemed to take the trio by surprise.

"It... wasn't exactly supposed to do this..." said Harry.

"Maybe you really don't need a wand, mate" added Ron.

There was a blinding light in the courtyard accompanied by a powerful wave of heat, which broke the window near them and put them all on the floor.

_"Fireball? It can throw fireballs?"_

"No, it can't. That was the sorcerer" Hermione explained. "He must like fireworks and impressive sparks."

"She should head to the courtyard" Harry said, voice commanding. "Do you remember what you have to do Merlin?"

"Yeah, of course."

And so the proceeded to executing their plan, and Merlin had never felt more scared and excited at the same time in his life.

***

Arthur led his men to the great rooftop of the castle, where the sorcerer was standing, all mighty and full of self-confidence, looking down to the courtyard like a mountain would look down at a rock. It left the courtyard empty except for the guard who were trying to get everyone who wasn't a member of the army inside the castle.

Harry put his invisibility cloak on his shoulders, one last look at Merlin and his two friends.

"Let the show begin!" He murmured, a smile on his face. It was as if he found that easy.

"Don't listen to him, his head is big since he's realized he had escaped the most dangerous wizard of all time four times." Ron joked lightly.

It was as if everything had stopped. Merlin could almost hear Harry's footstep in his head. The warlock’s magic suddenly made him aware of his environment: the ground, the air, the fire.

Harry spoke loudly, with a resonance and pretence that Merlin had never heard before. It was like the voice had been amplified by magic.

 _"I, Harry Jame Potter, request a duel with the former Salamancer terrorizing the city of Camelot. I don't know your name, sorcerer, but I do know your presence here is not well received. Get your_ arse _down in the courtyard if you wish to measure yourself against me."_

Everything went quiet. Merlin spotted the tiny figures of Arthur and his men on the rooftop, completely still, like they were wooden soldier toys some kids played with.

Nobody moved until the salamander, who was scotched to the castle wall, moved down. And then, the shadow was there; the sorcerer was floating in the air, like he was half-bird, half human. Merlin had never seen such magic; it was completely new to him.

His black velvet robe floated around him as the Salamancer set foot in the courtyard.

"I, Henry Silmarius, accept the challenge. But I do not see you, Harry James Potter. Show yourself or I'll decline the duel, and Camelot will be no more by the time the sun comes up from behind the hills.."

For a few seconds, nothing happened. After a short moment, with great impression, Harry removed his cape and let it lay on the floor. He wasn't the young man with the glasses anymore, Merlin thought. Right now, Harry looked powerful, and frightening.

"How old are you, young sorcerer, and why are you so keen to protect the bastion of those who persecute your kind?" Henry inquired with an imperial pretence.

"The realm of Camelot has to be protected, and the heir to the throne shall protect and bring this kingdom to his most peaceful era."

"The druid's prophecy is a lie!" The Salamancer cried. "The prince is as much a tyrant as his father! You are a traitor to your kind, and you shall die for this!"

"Rather cliché for a pride speech." Ron remarked, who was hidden beneath the door next to Merlin and Hermione in the corridor next to the courtyard.

Before Hermione could retort with an answer or shush him out, lightning of magic spells illuminated the courtyard. The castle walls trembled. If Uther was looking by a window he was probably fuming against the treason of the trio he had been sheltering for the past few weeks. Merlin saw Arthur and his men get down on their chest so they would not fall off the roof.

Harry seemed to gain advantage on the duel as he had a wand had been trained to duel. He was able to shift most of the spells the Salamancer was performing. It was almost like a dance.

But then, two of the sorcerers' spells clashed and they connected with each other. This was the signal.

 _"C'mon, Merlin, it's your chance to shine!"_  shouted Hermione.

 

 _"It's always like that, isn't it?!"_  Harry yelled.

 

 _"Surrender, then!"_  The sorcerer suggested.

"NEVER!" yelled Harry, his voice resounding on the castle walls.

Harry directed the magical bond to the side of the courtyard where Merlin was standing. When the bond connected with Merlin's magic shield, it exploded with such a force that it threw every guard still in the courtyard to the ground. The wind was strong and circular. Merlin knew he couldn't be seen from where he was standing, but he knew he would have to run once all this was over.

"Ron, Harry, quick!" pressed Hermione, running to the center of the courtyard.

From the corner of his eye, Merlin saw Harry take his cloak from the floor. Then, the bespectacled young man stretched his hands so Hermione and Ron would be able to take them. They were there, all three of them, looking at Merlin, and he heard Hermione’s voice in his head, like she was at his side.

_“Do it, throw the magic at us. The strength of the magic will bring us back when we Disapparate. It will send us back to the right time. C'mon, don't be afraid, do it.”_

 “But what if I kill you?” said Merlin, in a despairing voice.

While he spoke, a strange sound was heard. Like a bird singing. The three sorcerers lifted their heads, and Merlin saw their smiles

"FUMSECK!" They cried.

They were crying out of joy, but Merlin would never know why they were so happy. He sent the magic bond towards the trio and everything exploded.

The Salamancer layed on the stoned floor of the courtyard, killed by the explosion. His salamander lay beside him, also dead. Merlin heard people rushing into the staircases, and he faked to be hiding, unconscious, behind a barrel. Since there was so much going on, nobody remarked him, and even with all the chaos, he closed his eyes and slept there.

***

**EPILOGUE:**

Uther was exceptionally enraged after the events. Even with the Salamancer dead, he still couldn't believe that Harry, Ron and Hermione were sorcerers. Merlin stood beside Arthur as he listened absently to the king's angered lecture.

Time passed, and Merlin came back into the habit of protecting Arthur and fulfilling his destiny. Two years after the events that led to Harry, Ron and Hermione's departure, however, he entered his room in Gaius's quarter to find a strange little creature perched upon his bed. It had a long nose, big blue eyes and gigantic ears. It was wearing all sorts of things that clearly didn't go well together. It spoke to Merlin like it was the most normal thing to do.

"Winky has a message for Mr. Merlin."

It gave a brown envelope to Merlin, and quickly disappeared with a loud popping noise.

In the envelope was a very realistic representation of Harry, Ron and Hermione posing together with other people, some younger, some older. There were lots, lots of people with bright red hair. But not everybody; two young boys had black hairs, and one looked suspiciously like Harry. Merlin’s three magical friends wore bright smiles, and they looked somewhat older. Had Harry survived his destiny? Merlin smiled, as he realised that yes, Harry had probably survived, married, and become a dad. The kids were their children, their very, very magical children. The image was accompanied by a parchment paper with two words scribbled on it: 

_THANK YOU_

Merlin smiled, contemplating both the message and the image that meant everything to his world. His three sorcerers were safe, and now he knew that magic would survive: peace would reign once more, for a time of _Albion._

-Fin-

 


End file.
